Spring Has Sprung!

Day 163: There are many variations on the poem, but I learned it as follows:

Spring has sprung,
The grass is riz,
I wonder where
The daisies is?

I don't know that you could stretch the definition of "daisy" far enough to encompass primroses, and the word's reach certainly does not extend to forsythia nor to rhubarb, so let's just say that the first colours are out, giving us a foretaste of what is to come. The gardening bug has bit me, and the number of seed flats and pots in my east window is growing almost daily, with marks on the calendar for the optimum planting dates for a variety of flower and vegetable seeds. Some species are ones I've never grown before like Mexican Sour Gherkins, one-inch cucumbers which resemble tiny watermelons and can be enjoyed straight off the vine. Others are my old stand-bys: Gazanias, marigolds, Calendula, cosmos. Not a square inch of prepared bed will be wasted, but neither will I plant according to a plan. I like the look of what I call a "scatter garden," plants and seeds stuck willy-nilly wherever space allows, to be a floral crazy-quilt at the peak of the flowering season. I do try to keep the border low and the back high, but there are always a few strays and volunteers with other ideas, particularly the sunflowers planted by my little avian friends for their personal harvest. Bring your paint pots and brushes, Summer! My garden is a canvas for your most expressionistic art.